"Tough day. I've seen coaches as well as friends come and go. No matter how many years I've been playing, it's still hard to deal with. I had a good relationship with Mike and I will continue to have one. I wish him and his family nothing but the best. I spoke with him today and thanked him for all of his hard work and sacrifice.

"As a team, we must focus our energy on tonight's game. We must block out the weight of today's news and simply do our jobs to the best of our ability. I'm not sure what direction we are heading in next. All I can do is focus on the here and now.

"Mamba out"

Those are strong, supportive words from the leader of the team. And that doesn't always happen as coaches are often fired after clashing with star players. That didn't appear to be the case in this situation, but owner Jim Buss did insinuate that he somewhat consulted Bryant about Brown by saying, via ESPNLosAngeles.com, "Kobe and I have a relationship where he can look at me and say, 'Everything's cool' So Tuesday during practice, I gave Kobe a quick glance, and everything was cool."

That was Tuesday. The Lakers dropped to 1-4 Thursday. Still, Buss supported Brown then, saying: "I have no problems with Mike Brown at all. He just works too hard and he's too knowledgeable for this to be happening. So either the system is flawed or something's going on. Or, like the Triangle, it's very hard to pick up and understand. I'm not a basketball mind like he is or the players are, and the players are fine with it, so I just have to be patient."

As it turns out, Buss and the Lakers organization weren't that patient.